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Originally Posted by tygaboy
Massive amounts of analysis go into the design of any suspension. Look at the RC-51, as an example. Both HRC and folks like Dan Kyle racing design replacement linkage components to alter the rear linkage to do things like improve traction characteristics - to noticeable improvement. These are not massive sized changes.
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Yep, but then the RC51 comes from the factory with extremely good suspension. The SV's spec is set by budget not by design. The exact same forks are used in more than one Suzuki model- the Bandit 6 weighs considerably more than the SV, has different suspension geometry, different weight distribution and most would say a different application- so clearly the suspension's not perfect for one or the other.
The fact is, the SV suspension's cheap and nasty. The forks have more in common with door closing mechanisms than with modern suspension, and the rear's basically misspecced for the average british or American rider. I shudder when I hear about 200 pound riders on stock SVs... You can make huge changes to it without incurring any negative results, because you're not shooting for perfection- just improvement. The 636 shock swap's very far from perfect, but for most of us it's further from dreadful than the stock unit
